Four centre-backs but no points as Liverpool lose to Southampton

Liverpool 0 - 1 Southampton

Liverpool crashed to their first league defeat of the season, losing 1-0 at home to Southampton this afternoon.

Brendan Rodgers sprang something of a surprise by fielding a defence comprised of four players more commonly used as centre-backs in Liverpool's shock defeat to Southampton. And yet it was another defender - the Saints' Dejan Lovren - who stole both the headlines and the three points with the only goal of the game.

The summer signing headed in a corner in the 53rd minute, and the away side were fairly comfortable in the face of a less than convincing performance from the Reds.

Daniel Agger and Martin Skrtel failed to see the match through, as Rodgers brought on natural left-back Jose Enrique just short of the hour mark. But a change of personnel - with Raheem Sterling and Luis Alberto also brought on in the second half - failed to change the score.

The results means Liverpool have dropped five points from a possible six, and while they remain top of the league for now, they could lose that position as early as this evening should Chelsea win against Fulham.

Statistics

Liverpool

Southampton

Possession

55.2%

44.8%

Shots on target

Total shots

Team Lineups

Liverpool

Simon Mignolet

Daniel Agger

Mamadou Sakho

Kolo Touré

Martin Skrtel

Lucas Leiva

Iago Aspas

Jordan Henderson

Steven Gerrard

Victor Moses

Daniel Sturridge

Substitutes

José Enrique

Luis Alberto

Martin Kelly

Bradley Jones

Raheem Sterling

Jordon Ibe

Andre Wisdom

Southampton

Artur Boruc

Nathaniel Clyne

Jose Fonte

Luke Shaw

Dejan Lovren

Adam Lallana

Victor Wanyama

Jay Rodriguez

Pablo Osvaldo

Morgan Schneiderlin

Rickie Lambert

Substitutes

Jack Cork

Gastón Ramírez

Steven Davis

Jos Hooiveld

Kelvin Davis

Calum Chambers

James Ward-Prowse

Vincent Ralph

After graduating with a degree in English Literature, Vincent completed a NCTJ-accredited qualification in newspaper and magazine journalism in 2005. Shortly after, in a somewhat leftfield move, he began working at a secondary school in Kent. After eight years – the last four of which were spent as Head of Sixth Form – he began to write full-time, combining his love of football with his passion for the written word.Alongside his work for HITC Sport, he also writes film reviews for HITC Lifestyle… along with the odd music interview when fate allows.